> Given that there are sensible limits on what a waiver can achieve, I > think that finding practical measures outside of the waiver -- e.g. > building our competence as volunteers, and reducing actual risks to > potential installers of Debian -- could also be worth spending > braintime on.
Agreed. > 1) Perhaps we should encourage compatibility testing of devices, in > preference to immediate on-the-day installation? > > - For example, invite participants to try using a Debian Live > image that will not modify their system. Yes! Whenever I install Linux on other peoples' machines, I start by running live images so people get a risk-free look-and-feel experience. Apart from allaying some fears (Linux is - mistakenly - still perceived as scary and only suited for techy people), it is also a good opportunity to showcase different desktop environments (GNOME and KDE, mostly). This would mean that we have to make sure to have Debian Live USB drives with different desktop environments available at the installation event. > - Even if a Live image works perfectly, we could remind > participants that their operating system remains supported by their > vendor until October, and -- as reported[1] recently -- that continued > support options may remain available. IMHO, the Extended Security Updates program is not really a long-term solution for computers unable to run Windows 11 but rather a short-term life extension - for which one has to a) enroll and b) pay in one form or another. While I admit that withholding this information from install fest attendees would be wrong, I wonder how we can make clear that this "solution" is simply kicking the problem down the road (and at a cost)? Or is this just my subjective judgement? > 2) It would be good if volunteers can find time to successfully > install Debian on a host before the installfest. > > - On a physical machine/laptop ideally - but if not, then at least > in a virtual/emulated machine. Ran a debian-live-12.11.0-amd64-gnome.iso install on a physical device on Monday. Smooth sailing :) However, I somehow missed the option for FDE in the installer (against my advice, my friend decided to not want to have FDE enabled anyways, so I admittedly didn't dig very deeply in the installer options). > - Providing feedback to the debian-boot team (e.g. installation > reports[2]) could be a valuable additional output of this. I wasn't aware this existed! Thanks for pointing this out. Will do this going forward. > What other ideas could help? I suggest we meet at DebConf before the install event and agree on some basic guidelines for us volunteers. One thing that immediately comes to mind, is Georges point about letting the attendees do the installation themselves (incl. the physical clicking/typing/entering) and us just assisting; I agree not only for liability reasons, but also to give people agency and help them learn a thing or two in the process. But there might be other things to agree upon: E.g. do we help with dual boot setups? -- Alex # No gods, no masters. # 47A5 9C45 FA69 E651 25ED 0B98 9891 FC5D 3C3C 4426
